Genesis/John 3

As we see in Genesis chapter 3, Adam and Eve are thrown out of Eden. But before that we notice that they hid from God. We also see them shift blame - Adam blames Eve, Eve blames the serpent. Now before that, we do see what the serpent (Satan) said to Eve. He played on her human need for power.

I find it interesting that her eyes were not opened until Adam also ate of the fruit. We see here where the man should have stood his ground as the head of the family but did not. I'm NOT laying blame solely on Adam. Eve sinned - big as life. Adam should have 1)asked what the fruit was, 2)told her no and rebuked her. Eve should Never have even considered touching the fruit. And she should have submitted to both God and Adam to obey the commands given to her. When she did sin, she should not have pulled Adam into it as well.

When their eyes were opened, they hid from God. First of all, how awesome would it be to literally walk with God and talk to Him in the garden?! Wow! And they lost that because of their sin. That tells us that, as humans, we will fail. They literally had God there with them, walking and talking, and they still sinned.

I think it's interesting that God asked them a few questions. "Where are you?" He knew where they were. "Who told you that you were naked?" He knew. "Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" He knew this too. After Adam blames Eve, He asks her, "What is this you have done?" He knew the answer. He knew all the answers.

Then - God curses the serpent to eat dust for all of its life. He then punishes Eve with labor pains and submission to her husband (no-I do not see this as a punishment but it is included in her's). He punishes Adam by making him to toil and work the ground for his food, as well as allowing adam to eventually die (v. 19). Even though it all started with the serpent, the justness (not fairness-2 different things) of God brought punishment to all who sinned. "The devil made me do it" did not work then and it does not work now.

Next we see the first instance of an animal being used for anything. God made their garments from skins. Then He drove Adam and Eve out of the garden. Now, when He drove them out, He put angels to guard a tree. This was not the tree of knowledge but the tree of life. They had already eaten of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but God specifically says they must keep Adam and Eve from eating of the tree of life, lest they live forever.

1. Why do you think Eve's eyes were not opened until Adam ate as well?

2. What do you think Adam should have done differently as the one in charge?

3. Knowing these 2 were that close to God and still failed, how do you feel about your own walk with God? (You do not have to answer this to the others if you don't want. You can just use it for reflection.)

4. Why do you believe God asked all of those questions?

5. Why did God NOT want Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of life and live forever?

In the end of John chapter 2, we see Jesus clear the temple. While He drove them out of the temple for what looks to be different reasons, I see a correlation. Adam and Eve sinned against God. They corrupted their purity and innocence. The moneychangers sinned against God. They corrupted the purity of the temple.

2. Adam should have taken charge as the spiritual leader. He was not off in the corner somewhere. He was right there with her and knew what she was doing. He was a willful participant.

4. He wanted them to recognize their spiritual condition and where their sin had taken them

5. Because that would mean he would live forever separate from God instead of relying on the coming Christ to reconcile him.

It is interesting that Adam and Eve were naked and felt no shame before they sinned (Genesis 2:25). But after they ate from the tree, they were ashamed. So, what happened? What changed? Adam and Eve, both made in the image of God, were also clothed in his glory. Which is why they could stand before God, they had peace in their hearts, and they felt no shame. After they sinned, this glory was immediately removed. Peace removed. And we notice the difference in them immediately. Sin is devastating.

Excellent post, Sean. I have heard pastors who have preached longer than I've been alive and they could not explain it like you did in your last paragraph. Great job!

For anyone who may be just starting out or not understand why: They lost the glory of God because holiness and sin cannot dwell in the same place. Even after we repent, we are not clothed in glory because we are flesh. We will always struggle with sin. But on that glorious day when we shall see Him face to face and live forever in Heaven, THEN we will be clothed in glory. What a thought!! That is so exciting to think that we will one day see our Maker and our Saviour face to face!! Hallelujah!

I would like to give my answers to the questions now. I don't like to give them in the beginning because I want others to share first.

1. I actually agree - somewhat- with Romans116 on this. They were one flesh. But at the same time, if Adam had not eaten the fruit, I wonder if her eyes would have been opened anyway, if she would have had to leave the garden and been condemned. Or would Adam's rebuking of her have been enough?

2. Adam should have rebuked her and stood his ground. I think this is a perfect example of how wrong things can go when the head of the house is not acting like the head of the house. There is a reason God planned it that way - Do It.

3. I will go ahead and answer this simply because it may help someone else. When I think about the fact that these 2 people walked with and talked with God daily, and they still sinned, I am amazed at how often others expect we, Christians, to be perfect. Yes - I hate when I mees up. But I have learned to not beat myself up. When I wholeheartedly and sincerely repent, I am forgiven and should not dwell on my failures.. But - we must also learn that when we mess up and sin, we shouldn't try to hide it from God. He sees it anyway. He can't heal what you don't reveal.

4. I think He asked them the questions for 2 reasons: a) to make them confess their sins [we must confess them or He can't forgive them.] and b) to make them think about what they had done. If we see sin as a flippant ocurrence or 'not a big deal' we will forget where we started and not see how far it has taken us. We must continually be mindful of our spiritual walk.

5. Again - I agree with Roman116 on this. If they had eaten of the tree of life, they would have lived forever apart from God. The way He designed it was: Christ made it possible for us to live forever with God. Before Christ died, there were sacrifices for atonement. Had they eaten of the tree, they would not have had a need for sacrifices or Christ. Can you imagine living forever in this body, in this world, in this fleshly struggle? No thank you! So-even in that, God had their best interest at heart.

6. I find it interesting that God cleaned the garden of Adam and Eve and returned it pure just as Christ cleaned the temple of the moneychangers and returned it to pure. It can also be thought of like this: When we sin, just as Adam and Eve did, we must rid our hearts of the sin. We must then cleanse our lives, as Christ did the temple, of things that would defile His temple (this is sanctification) - because our bodies are the temple.

A hard pill to swallow. Basically what Romans 1: 18-23 is saying...NOBODY is innocent. ALL are guilty. So when people ask, well what about the native who lives deep in the Amazon jungle who has never hear of God or Christ? According to Romans chapter 1, they are just as guilty because God has made himself known to EVERYONE and ALL have REJECTED. Good example..the Greeks. They claimed to be wise, philosophers, thinkers,ect. Yet they worshipped statues. The even worshipped unknown gods. Parallel with Acts 17:16-32

#1. It's obviously impossible to say with 100% accuracy why Eve's eyes were not opened until Adam ate the fruit but if I had to throw out my best guesses: As the original post says, man is the head of the family. The man acts as a protector, a guard of innocence if you will. A question that rose to my mind was what if Adam have not eaten the fruit, would Eve's eyes have been opened? Could Adam have fought for Eve's innocence or purity?

#2. I "think" that Adam should have questioned what it was. And, once he knew what it was, he should have throw it as far as he could and to stand for what he knew and believed. I think thats one think that men struggle with is standing for what they believe and know to be true in their faith. We see men standing for politics, work, and other things but think about how many men you find standing firm for Christ.

#3. It makes me feel secure when I feel afar. We still this day can walk with God, for His presence is with us always, but we do not have that "physical" presence. So, If Adam and Even had that, could hear the power and wisdom in his voice, the breath from his nostrils that breathed them into creation, and yet they still fell, its comforting to me.

#4.Funny question. The first thing that popped into my mind was what parents say, you know: I'm going to ask you some questions to give you a chance to come clean and tell me the truth. Now, God's the perfect father, so I'm not sure that thats what he was doing but who knows?

#5.Good question, possibly because now that sin had entered the world, they had sinned against God, and death was part of the consequence? If they had eaten of the tree of life then death would not have been a consequence, and ... well ... we'd still see them around today....kinda wierd lol.

#6. I can definately see the similarity, but would have to dig a little deeper into the contexts.

A hard pill to swallow. Basically what Romans 18-23 is saying...NOBODY is innocent. ALL are guilty. So when people ask, well what about the native who lives deep in the Amazon jungle who has never hear of God or Christ? According to Romans chapter 1, they are just as guilty because God has made himself known to EVERYONE and ALL have REJECTED. Good example..the Greeks. They claimed to be wise, philosophers, thinkers,ect. Yet they worshipped statues. The even worshipped unknown gods. Parallel with Acts 17:16-32

Good post!

The first time I was a part of a conversation asking about people who had never heard of Christ but were still judged, a question was asked. "How can they be judged if they have never heard the Gospel?" The Word of God tells us in Romans 1:20 that men are without excuse. Why? "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Creation is enough to show us there is - not only God - but He is divine and omnipotent.

The sad part is, as the next few verses tell us, they refused to see the truth, became fools, worshiping their own way, thus being turned over to depraved minds to dwell in their wickedness. Wow!

A hard pill to swallow. Basically what Romans 1: 18-23 is saying...NOBODY is innocent. ALL are guilty. So when people ask, well what about the native who lives deep in the Amazon jungle who has never hear of God or Christ? According to Romans chapter 1, they are just as guilty because God has made himself known to EVERYONE and ALL have REJECTED. Good example..the Greeks. They claimed to be wise, philosophers, thinkers,ect. Yet they worshipped statues. The even worshipped unknown gods. Parallel with Acts 17:16-32

Acts 17:16 "Now while Paule waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him, when he saw that the city was given over to idiols."

ACTS 17:17 Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile Worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those that happened to be there.

A hard pill to swallow. Basically what Romans 1: 18-23 is saying...NOBODY is innocent. ALL are guilty. So when people ask, well what about the native who lives deep in the Amazon jungle who has never hear of God or Christ? According to Romans chapter 1, they are just as guilty because God has made himself known to EVERYONE and ALL have REJECTED. Good example..the Greeks. They claimed to be wise, philosophers, thinkers,ect. Yet they worshipped statues. The even worshipped unknown gods. Parallel with Acts 17:16-32

Acts 17:16 "Now while Paule waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him, when he saw that the city was given over to idiols."

ACTS 17:17 Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile Worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those that happened to be there.

Acts 17: 33 and 34

So Paul departed from among them.

However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionisius and Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.